Woman&#39;s bust shaping and supporting garment



Aug. 2, 1949. HU AU 2,478,103

WOMAN'S BUST SHAPING AND SUPPORTING GARMENT Filed Nov. 21, 1946 INVENTOR Z/zuq/v HUN 7 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 2, 1949 WOMANS BUST SHAPING AND SUPPORTING GARMENT Lillian Hunau, Brooklyn, N. Y., now by marriage Lillian H. Sayers Application November 21, 1946, Serial No. 711,271

1 Claim.

This invention relates to womens bust shapi and supporting garments, and is primarily concerned with under garments such as brassieres and foundations, although the same is also susceptible of use in outer garments such as bathing suits and dresses.

It is an object of the invention to provide a garment of the character described havin a novel but simple means for uplighting, forming and separating the breasts.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a garment of the character described which will properly perform its uplifting, forming and separating functions even when the wearer twists her torso or bends from side to side or up and down.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a garment of the character described which will absorb the strain incident to the mentioned movements of the body without disturbing the desired shape and position of the breasts, and which will resume its original condition when the wearer returns to her normal posture without the necessity of rearranging the garment.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention, accordingly, consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possibleembodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a brassiere, constructed in accordance with the invention, as it appears in use;

Fig. 2 is a front View of the brassiere as it appears when open, portions of the fabric being broken away to expose the normally concealed construction of certain elements;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary front View of the center of the brassire; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary front view of the side of one of the bust cups.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, H! denotes a brassiere embodying the present invention and comprising a pair of identical fabric bust cups l2, l4 joined at the center of the brassiere by a vertical row of stitching I6. Said cups are suitably shaped to impart the desired domed formation thereto, as by darts formed by stitching l8. These darts run downwardly and toward the center of the brassiere, thereby providing a line of demarkation between the lower part of each cup which is straight out (the warp and woof extend vertically and circumferentially) and the inner part of each cup which, because of the dart, is bias cut. Circumferentially extending fabric panels 20, 22 are attached to the outer side edges of the bust cups by rows of stitching 24, 26. One of the panels, for example the panel'26, has a circumferentially resilient webbing 28 secured to its rear edge by stitching 30, and this webbing supports a strip 32 of cloth at its outer end. The strip of cloth carries two circumferentially spaced pair of eyes 34, either pair of which is adapted to be detachably engaged by a matching pair of hooks 36 sewed to the free edge of the panel20 whereby to complete a torso encirclin band including the two bust supporting members.

The brassire also includes a pair of fabric tapes 3B, 40 designed to serve as shoulder straps. The rear end of each strap is anchored to the upper edge of the brassire at the back, e. g. to the rear of a panel 2|], 22, and the front end of each strap is adjustably secured to the center'of the top edge of a bust cup l2, M, e. g. by means of an adjusting buckle 42 and a doubled strip of longitudinally resilient tape 44. Said buckle is of conventional construction and comprises several parallel cross-bars held in fixed relative position by end members, certain of the cross bars and/or end members being provided with slots to facilitate the threading of the fabric and resilient tapes through the buckle.

The bust cups are reinforced and proper shaping of the breasts aided by the provision of an outer auxiliary fabric panel 46 whose lower and side edges are coincident with the lower and outer side edges of the joined bust cups and whose upper edge has two deep curved notches 48, 50 which define the desired contours of the undersides of the bases of the breasts. The edges of the panel 46 are secured to the bust cups by a line of stitching 52 which includes portions around the notches.

As thus far described the brassiere is entirely conventional and has been described in detail simply to facilitate a better understanding of the invention. It will be understood, however, as the description proceeds, that the only necessary elements are the bust encircling band including the two breast supporting members, and the shoulder straps, and, preferably, the means on each shoulder strap above a breast supporting member to slidably support a tape. Furthermore, these essential elements may be modified considerably without departin from the spirit of the invenresilient,

tion. Thus, the bust cups may be in the form of bust pockets or pouches, this transformation being effected by omitting the stitching 52 at the notches 48, 50, stitching the center of the panel 46 to the bust cups along the line I6 and donning the brassiere with said panel next to the skin. Additionally the resilient tape 44 may be omitted and the buckle 42 made in an entirely different shape. Also, the panel 46 can be made larger or smaller, or left off, and, in the latter event, the bust cups I2, l4 be made smaller so that their lower edges follow the contours of the notches 48, 50. The brassiere even can form part of another garment as, for example, a foundation, bathing suit or dress.

Pursuant to the instant invention, each shoulder strap has afiiliated therewith a different elongated flexible member such as a fabric tape 54, 56, one end 58 of which is resiliently anchored to the associated :bust cup at a point adjacent the outer side edge thereof and the other end 60 of which is resiliently anchored to the brassiere near the front center thereof, preferably to the opposite bust cup at a point adjacent the lower edge of the base thereof. Desirably, the tape is freely slidable with respect to its afiiliated shoulder strap.

More specifically the first mentioned end 58 of each tape extends through a gap between the bust cups and the upper edge of the panel 46 adjacent the outer side edge thereof, the stitching 52 being omitted at this region for such purpose. Said concealed end is sewed, as at 62, to an end of a longitudinally resilient, short flexible member, such as an elastic tape 64, whose other end is fastened by stitching 66 to the associated bust cup a short distance inwardly from the center of the outer side edge thereof.

The other end 60 of each tape extends through a gap between the bust cups and the upper edge of the panel 46 intermediate the notches 48, 56, the stitching 52 likewise being omitted in this region. Said concealed end crosses over the demarcation line 16 between the bust cups and is sewed, as at 68, to an end of a longitudinally short flexible member, such as an elastic tape 10, whose other end is fastened by stitching to the opposite bust cup slightly beneath the line of the notch which defines the lower edge of the base of a breast. This latter stitching may comprise the dart stitching I8.

It will be seen that the foregoing arrangement conceals the resilient anchoring tapes 64, 10 but does not constrain their outline so that they are free to assume a desirable straight line shape when tensioned in use. It also will be observed that the fabric tapes, rather than the resilient tapes, cross over at the center of the brassiere, thus assuring a firm zone of cleavage between the breasts.

Each tape 54, 56 is free slidably disposed between two adjacent cross bars of the buckle to permit the tape to shift relative to the associated bust cup.

In use, when the wearer flexes'her torso, the brassire accommodates itself to' the body by shifting the fabric tapes 54, 60 along the buckles 42 and by differentially expanding the elastic tapes 64, 10, this adjustment relieving much of the strain which otherwise would be placed on the bust cups and would result in a shifting of the ,bust cups and improper shaping of the breasts. Moreover, since such adjustment is automatic and responsive in degree to the strain imposed, when the wearer returns to her normal posture the brassiere will readjust itself. It will be appreciated that, throughout this adjustment, the zone of cleavage also will shift slightly to be accommodated to the position the wearer takes.

The length of each tape 54, 56, including the elastic tapes 64, 10, is slightly less than the distance along the brassiere under the tape from the anchor points comprising the stitching i8, 66 to a buclde 42 when the brassire is off a wearer. This arrangement causes the tapes to be tensioned lightly before the bust cups assume the weight of the breasts. The tensioned tapes gently squeeze the bases of the breasts and force them forwardly whereby to increase the control of the tapes over the form of the breasts and, in addition create a more distinct separation and better shaping of the breasts. It will be observed that for this advantage to accrue the elastic tapes need not be at the ends of the fabric tapes but can be disposed anywhere along their lengths.

Another advantage of the improved brassire is its operation when one shoulder is raised higher than the other. In an ordinary brassiere this relaxes the control of the brassiere over the breast beneath the lower shoulder and permits this breast to sag. The improved brassiere, however, is so constructed that each tape, in addition to aiding in shapin the breast beneath the shoulder strap which supports such tape, also aids in supporting the opposite breast because the tape is anchored at one end beneath said opposite breast. Thus, when one shoulder is lower than the other, the higher shoulder raises the breast beneath the lower shoulder by virtue of the straps 54, 56.

Furthermore this support of the opposite breast is enhanced by anchoring an end of each tape at a dart l8, since this permits the uplifting pull to be exerted over all of the straight out under part of the bust cup rather than on the relatively more resilient and deformable bias cut inner part.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a garment which achieves the several objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now described the invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

A womans bust shaping and supporting garment comprising a bust encircling band including two breast supportin members, a pair of shoulder straps each connected at one end to adjacent the center of the top edge of a different one of the breast supporting members and at the other end to the back of the bust encircling band, and a pair of elongated flexible members, each associated with a different one of the breast supporting members and longitudinally slidably supported intermediate its ends by the shoulder strap attached to said breast supporting member, one end of each elongated member being anchored adjacent the mid-portion of the outer side edge of the associated breast supporting member and the other end of each elongated member being anchored to the bust encircling band near the front center thereof, each elongated member including resilient portions at its ends, the length of each elongated member when the garment is off a wearer being slightly less than the underlying distance along the garment from the point of support of said elongated 5 member to the anchor points thereof.

LILLIAN HUNAU.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 10 file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Yerkes Oct. 25, 1938 Malnick May 28, 1940 Glasser Sept. 22, 1942 Hunau Jan. 16, 1945 Gluckin Dec. 21, 1948 

